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2017-11-23 - Event in the Park
The afternoon wanes toward evening, and the Thanksgiving crowd are beginning to emerge. Central Park, one of the great spectacles of the city. Proud, and currently host to a group of people in a clearing with instruments. Instruments, and almost half the skill needed to really belong. The Salvation Army instrumental band is seranading the crowd with it's rendition of 'Evergreen', in an attempt to gather a crowd, and to raise funds for Christmas. The food banks are in need, and though they lack a bit in skill there's no shortage of heart behind their instruments. The crowd is light though, as advertising for the event fell through, so those who attend aren't being crowded. Even one young redhead standing to the side has a bit of a glow on her, as she bites her lip watching the music, and clutches a flute case to her chest. Easy to read, she has a wish in her green eyes. There appears to be a very low amount of pickpockets tonight, but the smell of fresh pretzels in the air is giving the capitalist spirit to the event. Gotta start somewhere. Sersi casually walks through the park. She is over by where the dam is, at the river that feeds much of the waterways and across from the zoo. She is quietly watchig, the woman clad most in green not looking around at things in any particular hurry, just a low hum coming out of her. Oliver Queen does in fact make an appearance at this salvation army christmas shindig, though he's just wearing a two-piece black suit and a green tie. He looks around a moment, seeing a few faces he recognizes, namely, Tony Stark. But he keeps to himself and his phone is nearby and handy. He appears to be texting someone almost constantly. Though he does look up every now and then to give the band a few claps of his hand. The only thing Tony hated about charity events and New York is that it was not only impossible to find a parking spot, but traffic was just horrible. Which is why he circumvents the latter. A dark red lamborgini with gold trip descends into a parking space from the sky. Just before it hits the ground, the repulsors fire twice and the tires rotate out so that it lands gently on four wheels. The butterfly doors open and Tony slides out. Dressed for the weather, Tony wraps his scarf around his mouth and then waits for Asia before he walks over to where they're taking donations and drops a white envelope into the box that most likely has a check in it. Then he goes off to find a good spot to watch the concert from. Asia is also dressed for the weather in a cute winter dress and warm leggings, gloves, and a hat with the fuzz ball on the top. SHe slowly gets out of the car and, taking her Uncle's hand and as they walk over to watch the concert. ~Going to a Concert today! Ready to start the holidays! #XMas~ Walking through Central Park, heading towards the concert she had heard about, was the ever social butterfly known as Ciara. She was walking along the sidewalk holding her phone out in front of her talking into it. "I'm here live looking for this concert and I can't wait to see what this is about?" She seemed very involved in her phone as she walked, looking for a place to sit and watch the concert. 'You better hurry up before the good seats are taken!' #I<3NY @IAMSTARK Tony's Starkphone chirps and he withdraws it out of his coat before tapping out a message and putting it back. The flying lambo manages to cause a few missed notes. Unsurprisingly, none of these are prof...well, few of these are professional performers. It isn't the easiest concert on the ears, but there's a certain charm to it that being in a concert hall lacks. While the snow has yet to really fall, the music becomes 'White Christmas' as the crowd goes significanly up in scale. Some fumbling occurs, and then the drum person catches up and they're suddenly all on time again and for a moment it's really quite nice. And the sad young redhead watches, her fingers turning white around her case.Then shakes her head and turns away from the Salvation Army band, looking for an exit strategy that won't leave her looking silly. (Sorry, I don't know anyone yet.) Sersi just shakes her head in bemusement over at the Christmas music and hums "It was for something else entirely." She notes in amusement over at the representation, and casually walks towards some of the others, a lazy but amused sway in her hips as she goes along to head towards the main cluster. Oliver Queen turns his head to Tony making his grandstanding entrance, straightening his emerald green tie and fixing his black suit a bit as he -just- got off work. He does smile when White Christmas starts to play. "Man....I love this song." he snaps his fingers a bit and starts to frankly act like a nerd. Asia can't read or write but she does know how to take a Selfie. She takes out her STARKPhone and tugs Uncle Tony. "Selfie time!"she says smiling and holdikng up the phone so they can get both of them and if he agrees she'll take the picture and use her voice activated feature to post it. #HangingWithUncleTony #TooCold #PlantLife Tony is sitting with Asia in his lap. He leans down to pose for the selfie and then grins when she uses the voice function to post it to her account. He spots Angelica and the case for the flute in her hands. He leans outwards slightly. "Excuse me, Miss. Why aren't you playing with the others. I mean..it's not terrible..but it's not bad either." He lifts his hand to wave at Oliver Queen and another wave for Sersi. He withdraws the thermos with the hot cocoa in it and pours some into a sippy cup for Asia before giving it to the plant girl. Ciara looks at her phone when she gets a tweet back from @IAMSTARK and just about fangirls as she continues on her phone. "OMG guys, Tony Stark just tweeted me back! Alright, I gotta end this session because you cannot be talking while people play music. #I'm out! See you on the next tide!" She gets the people viewing a sideways peace sign before retweeting back ~On my way! @IAMSTARK~ She puts her phone away and runs even closer to the concert, she looked like a girl running towards a sale at the local shoe place. When she gets closer and hears the music she seems a little confused. "What kind of music is this? I've never heard such music before. Man it is beautiful!" SHe didn't even hear the wrong notes. Dinah slowly enters, without fanfare, walking gingerly. Her right arm is in a high tech cast-like assembly and the rest of her looks like she's falling down five flights of stairs. Twice. So, you know, alive at least. She spots Ollie and just watches him a while before picking her way through the crowd like she really needs a cane at least. Maybe a walker. "Hey, loverboy," she says quietly. "Finally made it." 'Which concert!? Oh wait, the Salvation Army Concert? I haven't been back there in a while! Time to notify the @AquaCOW Wave Pool!' @TruckinTurduken 'Tis the season, everybody! Salvation Army is back at Central Park! Go out there and throw them dollar bills, yo! Donate for a good cause! Y'all all know The Struggle. Now it's time to do something about it! @AquaCOW is! And y'all better not go there just to ride her wave. Srsly, tho.' @BaxterBaxStar "So, this is a charity event. It is far smaller than I expected it to be," Adelah spoke outright while gathering up a donation of her own. She still needed to do the work for Wakanda, even if her schedule was cleared at the moment. Being casual didn't mean her work wasn't. "Perhaps I will speak with the band and see if some new instruments can be provided as well." Sure, they could stand to get a bit of an update and she wasn't shy about pointing it out. They did need a lot of work and new instruments was a good place to start. Her phone went off incessantly, causing her to mute it. Those notifications can be brutal at times. "Looks like this is a good gathering," she states taking a seat among the notable faces in the small gathering. It might be changing soon, though. "Is Thanksgiving always like this?" Sersi gives a wave to Tony, "Hello." The Eternal cheerfully offers Tony and then glances at Adelah and Ciara. her eyes flash as she takes in the pair from Wakanda and one version of Atlantis, and she taps her chin curiously as she approaches, and turns to Adelah as she sort of half floats, half walks then towards her i curiousity. Asia puts her Phone down and pick up the sippy cup and starts to drink. "Thank you, it's cold." she tells him like he doesn't know. "The parade was nice ah Iliked all the balloons." Oliver turns his head to spot Dinah and he gives her a concerned smile and a gentle....--gentle-- hug "Hey pretty bird...why arn't you resting? Though I am quite happy to see you out and about in all your glory." he kisses her forehead. "How are you feeling? are you alright?" Red Hair stops by Tony Stark. Oddly, she only blushes and doesn't hyperventilate at seeing and recognizing him. How could she not? She does give the little lady that he's with a smile, then looks back. Her eyes fall to her flute case, then she visibly blushes. "I'm not part of the band," she explains. "I mean, I'm new in town. And I'm not very good." But I'd love to be able to try. A little. The subtext is so obvious it could be melted down and turned to bullion. And in the background, White Christmas churns on, with a few flourishes that were never int he original and may in fact actually be from a different song entirely. There might be a few mixed sheet issues in the band, but it gets a laugh or two at least. Ted Grant looms. He's well over six feet tall. He has his hands taped up. He is wearing a black hoodie and mirrored glasses, the mark of a villain right. If he walked into a jewelry store the owner would likely hit the silent alarm at first sight. Mind you arresting him would be asking a lot of the poor cops. Or the National Guard. He's not sure what's going on yet but he spots Ollie and Dinah and looms in their direction showing a slightly disapproving expression. He waits for them to notice him hands behind his back. Tony plants a kiss on Asia's forhead. "Me too. I come to this concert every year if I'm able." His blue eyes lift back up to Angelica. "Well, a lot of the players aren't professionals. And they seem to be having fun. Since you went through the trouble of bringing your instrument, don't you think you should at least give it a shot? You might surprise yourself." He flashes her a grin. Tony's attention goes briefly to his phone before he silences his notifications and catches sight of a running woman. "She's a big girl." He comments to himself, big meaning tall in this case. He waves her over and points to a spot on the bench next to him. "Here's a free seat." He calls out to Ciara. Ciara looks to Adelah and smiles. "You made it! Awesome." She smiles and then looks to Tony when he offers a seat. "Ah, my favorite type of seat! Free. Thank you!" She then blushes. "I'm a big fan of yours. You have some pretty cool things. Like, you have definitely made the human race expand their thinking!" She took her seat and looked left and then right. She didn't talk too much did she? She leaned to Adelah. "Is Thanksgiving that holiday where they eat Turkey?" Asia takes another drink and looks at Angelica curiously. She overhears tone mumbling to himself and simply says. "Well I'm not a big girl," she giggles. She glances over to Ciara as Tony calls over to her. TOny knows a lotta people it seems, she offers a wave to both ladies, she will be polite after all. Angelica, that being the redheaded coward with the flute, nods a bit. She clearly doesn't want to intrude too much on Tony and Asia's day, though she doesn't know...anything. But she nods again as if having forgotten that she'd already done so, and looks around. There's both fear and hope on her face, and she gives a sudden bright smile that changes everything, saying, "Well why not, what's the worst could happen?" Then she turns to walk toward the person running the event, her entire form shouting 'this is an awful idea!!!' as she whispers to him, something about being allowed to maybe possibly help a little. And the song ends with a bit of a dramatic pause, as the guy on the trumpet manages to separate his instrument and whack the violinist in the head. We'll have a momentary pause for technical difficulties. Sersiwatches over, "CUrious that they celebrate an event that has changed so much throughout the millenia originally repurposed to convert worshippers of other faiths." She muses in a light twitch of a grin then as she goes to watch other things. The person in charge of the event smiles, and waves Angela forward. Then he does something that's absolutely horribly wrong and is possibly the worst thing you can do in this kind of situation: he gets on the microphone and ANNOUNCES her! "Ladies and gentlemen, Angelica Jones. It's her first time, so be nice to her." And the band goes silent, looking at the redhead who's fumbling with her flute up front of them and she gets a look of absolute terror in her eyes, as she stands with the entire crows looking in her direction instead of diluted by being 'part of the band'. Grim has arrived. "Yes, I did make it, but now I am wondering if I must come to regret this decision," Adelah remarks as she takes a seat. A free seat. Apparently, those are the best kind. Sure, someone else took too long to have a seat, but that's their problem now. "So, you have the same questions as I do? Someone must elaborate on this holiday a bit further, but for now, I think the band truly does need the aid of another. Perhaps a soloist in the form of a flautist. I think that means you," she pointed out to Angelica. "Mr. Stark, I believe this is our first meeting, but I understand I have a habit of not introducing myself. I always assume people will do it for me. Habit of my work. I am Adelah Abeni." Sersi nods cheerfully to Adelah, "I am gld that humanity has been able to repurpose festivals deigned for mass genocide to serve a greater cultural purpose. It is one of the things that I have long admired about them." She looks cheerful and possibly even sincere, which is quite scary. Ollie turns his head to Ted as he starts to move towards them like a man on a mission that resolves largely among scolding. Then he looks back to Dinah "Uh oh, were busted. quick, we need an alibi." he grins at Dinah, though he doesn't look scared. "But seriously, how are you feeling? I'm surprised you even feel up to walking about. Badass." he smiles. Tony turns to Ciara and offers his hand. "Thank you. I always have time for a fan. I admit Ciara that I'm a fan of yours as well. It's actually nice to find someone who reports on fashion and the hot spots in New York. Did you know that you're the reason I started drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes?" Tony raises a brow slightly towards Adelah. "Oh, Miss Abeni. Ambassador from Wakanda. So, how is T'challa doing these days? He said he was going home for a little while, but he was closed mouthed on the reason. Welcome to New York and America in general. How are you liking our fair city so far?" Constantine never misses 'free' much of anything, being the notorious hobo magus. Yes, that is the scientific phrase for his particular species. Seriously. The chainsmoking brit shows in particular fashion, cigarette between his lips and trench pulled close about. He squints and mutters,"I hope it ain't gospel. Only shite I need beneath my skin is...Meh. Bugger all, where's the drinks around here?" Asia stays quiet but will drink from her sippy cup while watching Tony chat with Ciara then to Adelah. She is in his lap after all, and comfy so what better place to perch and get gossip. Ciara is just about to jump out of her skin when he mentions that she's the reason he started drinking her trademark PSL. "What?! OMG, that is..." Keep it cool, don't need a waterfall dropped on you. ~OMG! Tony Stark is part of the Wave Pool!~ She waves a hand. "I report on more than just fashion and New York. I do other stuff...like technology and gossip. I mean, those Kardashians are just so on fleek." She looks to Asia and smiles. "Hello, I'm Ciara by the way." Angelica, since everyone in the area now knows her name, thanks announcer who I didn't ask to do that grumblegrumble, raises her flute to her lips. And proceeds to completely miss the mouthpiece, blowing a note that sounds like a duck quacking as her hands shake. She nearly drops her flute, as the band murmurs behind her supportively. Mostly, there are always a few idiots who laugh. ONe guy in the crowd says, quite clearly, "Oh this should be good, get your phones ready." Then, slowly, she raises her flute again. It takes her a minute, and the first note didn't bode well. She's actually crying as she takes a breath in, then looks out at nothingness. Then blows one clear, sweet note that almost tugs at heartstrings all on it's own. And closing her eyes, Angelica begins to play a simple tune. We Wish you a Merry Christmas, as the band begins to smile. It's simple, but she's recovering. And people begin to smile. Constantine squints and shivers as a wave of mixed horror and disgust comes over him. He mutters in aghast disbelief..."Did...someone just utter that...the Kardashians are...'on fleek'? What does that even mean..." He then mutters tersely something along the lines of being too sober. Sersi glances over at Constantine, "I am not sure." She offers cheerfully. "Perhaps given in celebration of the coming festival they are to be put through some sort of public sacrifice as an offering to the gods?" "Keep it cool, Ollie. I'm not robbing a liquor store or anything." Dinah glances over at Ted, gesturing him to come over. "Hey, unka Ted, how are you?" she says, feigning wellness while surreptitiously using Ollie as a crtuch so she can stand straight. "I got tired of your stair work so thought I'd take a break to listen to something that approximately related to music." Not exactly a diplomat is our Dinah. "So, talking of liquor stores, you holding? 'Cause I could do with a slug of whiskey." Whiskey. On that throat that sounds like it's concealing a buzz saw. Probably a good idea, right? Asia smiles a toothless little smile to Ciara and offers her a little gloved wave. "Mah name's Asia..Asia Greenleaf.;' she say with the confiedence of someone who just learned her name. The little girl is pleased with herself and looks curiously. "Fleek?" she then looks to TOny. "Whats a Cardassian?" Constantine looks to Sersi, pinpointing her rather handily by the unique accent in his fortunate vicinity. Fixing his collar and running a hand through his hair, John completes the ritual of the Constantine Presentation. He strolls over to her and inquires,"So I'm on time, then? 'bout time things got interestin' around here." "So, this is a festival of genocide?" Adelah wasn't sure how to handle that information. It was bad and now it's good? Well, that does seem to be the trend of holidays, she supposes. "If you're happy about them being repurposed, I am not certain of whether to be concerned or amused. I'll take the latter, though," she remarks to Sersi. "As for the King, well, it's hard to say. Contact between here and Wakanda comes and goes and contrary to popular belief, the diplomat doesn't know everything there is to know. I often find out later what happenings have occured. The distance can be frustrating, at times. City life is intriguing, to say the least. Filled with all sorts of excitement. I like it here, even if I don't know how to live here, yet," she addressed Tony. "Looks like the music has made a change for the better. I was almost beginning to think the band would destroy one another. Reconsidering my offer of donating instruments..." Ted Grant holds up his index to Dinah to tell her to wait. Then he looks over at the heckler and says politely, "You should give the young lady a chance." It takes a great effort not to add 'book' to the end of the sentence but he manages it. A small victory for personal growth. The guy should heed his advice. Ted turns back to Dinah and says, "Sweetie pie, I'm glad you're feeling better ... keep in mind you are too big to go across my knee, but not too big to take down a peg. And. Where. Is. My. Bike?" He's smiling now in a sort of scary way. Sersi considers, "I am not sure. I am curious as to what the cultural presentation of a fleek is. Given a public even in the style of the original holiday.. Ah well, I suppose things change throughout the ages." She goes to look cheerful and responds to Adelah. "Originally it was repurposed by one religion attempting to gain converts from other religions that were popularized within an area. After teh appropriation of the festival after a time it came to be celebrated as a cleansing event for those whom did not convert to the newly established religion." She considers. She nods over to Adelah. "Ah, Wakanda? That is wehre the majority of vibranium deposits are, correct? Other than the one in the deep south and within the polar regions?" Tony hmms at Asia. "Honey, a Cardassian is a alien race on that show Star Trek. You know the gray faced people with the spoon in the middle of their foreheads. What Ciara is talking about are the Kardashians, a group of women who are famous because they fu...er are married to a couple celebrities." He grins at Ciara. "Of course. I follow your technology vlog, too. What school did you got to? You sound like you really know your stuff. I'm curious to know where you were educated." Tony begins to applaud as Angelica starts off rough, but pulls herself together in the end and performs a classic song. He shakes his head to Adalah. "Ignore Sersi. For someone as old as the universe itself, she misses the mark more often than you think. This -holiday- is about giving thanks for the things that we are thankfulf for. It's called Thanksgiving. It's the one where we eat turkey." He winks at Ciara, having overheard her question from earlier. "The music they're peforming is called Christmas music. They celebrate that in Africa right, Adelah?" Shortly, another part of the band starts supporting Angelica's flute. Seconds later they're all-in, and the entire Salvation Army band is playing again. We Wish you a Merry Christmas, and a happy new year. For all that the conversation about may be edging toward the origins, the lady up there is smiling. Still scared, but smiling, as she flubs a note herself and fits right in. So long as nobody knows that she nearly peed herself, she calls it a win. But the song is short, and she needs a moment to wipe her face as she meets Tony's eyes. Tears, but also pride. And appreciation. Then she starts looking at the crowd, and her eyes widen as she recognizes more and more faces. How in heck are all these famous people here?? And I'm playing for them?! Nobody notice me pleaseohgod. Ollie just smiles at Dinah, his hand wrapping delicately and gently around her waist to give her a more stable resting point on him. "I'm happy too. Though whiskey does sound nice..." ollie being as mischievous as -always-. Though he does look to Dinah "I love christmas music. I think it's too happy and it makes you uncomfortable." he teases lightly. "Oh! your bike." no response. Constantine blinks at Tony and inquires in a sardonic tone after dragging on his cigarette a moment,"You mean, have they embraced the celebration of a dirty old man who left presents to encourage girls not to embrace whorin' an' call attention to the ones who did?" He smirks slightly at that, recognizing him right off apparently. "Your bike?" Dinah asks Ted. "Why? Is it missing?" Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Her voice indicates, too, a desperate need to curtail the number of razor blades in her mouthwash. Her weight increasingly falls on Ollie. "Got me, loverboy?" she mutters to him. "Legs aren't dealing to well with this standing bullshit. And Ted's bike just don't fit nicely like mine does." "I'll help you look for it, Ted. It's pretty serious, messing with man's wheels." Ciara looks at Tony as he describes the Kardashians. "I only know them because of their jeans, but okay. Whatever you say." She hadn't even known about their marriages. When he asks about schools she went to. "Uhh...I went to...MIT." She pulled the only known college to her for that. "I'm also just a quick learner." Yep. Thats it. Keep going with that. When he explains Thanksgiving and then Christmas, her eyes light up. "This sounds amazing. I would love to try that." Adelah "So it tends to go with holidays. That is where the term stems from, I suppose," Adelah shrugged as she decided to bench the thought for later. "But yes, that is where Vibranium is largely found, including polar regions, yes." She spoke suspiciously to Sersi's words. Discussing vibranium can be a bit tricky at times for her. "So, you would like to know if Africa celebrates Christmas?" She repeated Tony's question to him. "Yes, some parts do, other parts don't. There are a vast many countries, each of them participating in various holidays. So, Africa, in a narrow sense, does celebrate the holiday. I haven't before, but I know others do." Adelah Ollie smiles to Dinah when she starts to lean on him more heavily. "Always." and he wraps his arms around her to help keep her stable, his lips kissing her forehead. "Always got you covered." A beat. Wink. Though he looks then to Ted. "But seriously, I have no idea what happened to your bike. Asia nods to Tony. "Oh yeah the spoons." she says to him and nods. Her attention goes to Ciara, but she paues when she talksabout school or laters or wahtever, yeah not a topic she understands. Sersi nods cheerfully to Constantine, "I presume so. Also do not forget that in turn he purportedly breaks into all the residential areas on the planet.." She offers and then glances over curiously to Adelah. "Forgive me." She offers cheerfully and then goes to cross herarms. Passing by Dinah and Ollie is what could be described as a little person. A foul smelling, short and stout little person with a faded looking perked cap on his head with a feather stuck in it. Wearing a trenchcoat over his body that was walking along with the trenchcoat dragging along it. Constantine nods his agreement with Sersi as he adds,"Indeed. Pretty certain he's on the terror watch list for everything from deplorable workin' conditions in his workshop to gross and mass invasion of privacy on a scale normally reserved to governments, as well." Tony places his hands over Asia's ears and raises his brows towards Constantine. "She doesn't need to know the morbid details about her favorite holiday. Seriously, man. You'll kill a toddler's imagination and wonder like that." A brief nod indicates that he knows it well. He turns his attention to Ciara again. "NO WAY!!" He exclaims. "I studied engineeriung at MIT..when I was thirteen. Well, it's always cool to meet someone who went to my alma mater. You are as cool as everyone says you are AquaCOW." Tony winces a little. "Sorry, Adelah. I didn't meant to sound so ignorant there. I know only certain countries do and some others celebrate Kwanza. Anyway, that doesn't matter. I happen to be a good friend of your King." He pauses and leans over slightly. "So..he doesn't ever mention me, like..at all?" Angelica, redheaded amateur flautist mediocre, has to step out as the band starts a song she can't keep up with. Which is basically any song past beginner level. So she says a honest, deeply warm thank you to everyone near her and packs up her flute again. It's quick, she doesn't want to mess up their rhythm, but she's just got to thank them a little. And then as she gets out of people's clear vision she does this tiny little happydance that almost looks like she's got to pee or something and makes a tiny little squee sound that dogs could probably hear. As the band begins on an old classic, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Ted Grant rubs the bridge of his nose tiredly, eyes shut. Then he says, "Sweetie Bird, I got a tracker on the bike. How'd you think I found you?" He turns to Ollie and pats him on the shoulder. "Oliver ... if my bike is not back in its slot tomorrow morning ... you will be changing your color scheme to black and blue. In fact you may want to redesign your boxing glove contraption when you see what my mitts can do. If you need help with her give me a call. Ya wanna stay out partying? Cool. Don't expect me to go easy on your woman tomorrow. Are we clear? I can't threaten her. You are a whole other story. So get the bike back. I like ya." He pats the blonde man's shoulder again as if to say, "You need shoulder to shoot arrows, man. Wink wink" Asia blinks as her ears gets covered. She giggles. "Uncle Tony how did ya know my ears were cold." she says a little loud cause well her ears are covered. The small little man is swearing in something under his breath. Heavily accented Gaellic? Not quite. Something a bit heavier to the world, a breadth of uncertainty to it that's almost paradoxical. As it goes past Ted, it seems to be honing in on a small child watching the concert. A hand drops down over to underneath the trenchcoat. Constantine peers down at the sprout he didn't even notice until now. The occasional necromancer straps his belt to secure his trench as he quips at Sersi,"So where you from? Obviously not here, you seem much too enlightened." Ciara leans backward as Tony gets excited about the college she pulled out of her brain. "Well, I try." She wasn't sure how to take the result of him being estatic from her going to MIT. "I've never celebrated any of these holidays. I mean, is this what people do? Christmas? Thanksgiving? You guys find days to celebrate each other." Asia blinks at Ciara and grins. "You don't know Christmas?" she pauses. "THats' the bestest holiday well the bestest one that s in the winter and the cold not great butanyways that's the one that Santa comes and gives good little boys and girls toys and stuff." she says excitedly. "He's got magic and reindeer, and they fly." she asks. "Santa should be an Avenger but he's busy busy." she looks to Tony. "Isn't that right?" Power Girl has arrived. "I thought I disabled that thing," Dinah mumbles petulantly. "You've got two, you bastard." Then, "Look, Ted, I was going stir-crazy being cooped up and roughed up. I needed out. And have you ever tried to cab it from Gotham to Central? I'm not made of money!" Access to Queen Industries aside. "You know that I love your bike almost as much as I love mine. I treat it the way it deserves to be treated: as a flaming, howling beast from Hell. You'd have been proud of my ride." The argument is taking a lot out of her; her eyes stray looking for somewhere, anywhere, to sit before she embarrasses herself. "'Sides," she mutters, "weren't you the one who was not a few days ago telling me to stop feeling sorry for myself?" "He tends to be a man of business, only mentions what he needs to mention at the time it needs to be spoken of. He does not mince words. I am certain he has spoken of you, but nothing has been told to me about you, that is all. I am certain there are others that have much to say. Unfortunately, I am not one of them." Adelah stated matter of factly. "That is not to say I am not aware of who you are and your deeds, only that personal remarks are not typically spoken of in my position." She shifts in her seat to grow more comfortable, "I am not offfended by your words, Mr. Stark. I understand it can be difficult to summarize Africa, but yes, Kwanzaa is also celebrated in some places. It's very rich in culture and difficult to condense, even for Wakanda," she smiled genuinely. She looked up to Ciara. "I believe we should celebrate these holidays in our own way. I have a very basic idea, perhaps we can all have a nice gathering at my place. I can cook up some meals or others could bring a dish of their own liking." She focuses in on Asia and hums to herself thoughtfully. "How does this Santa provide toys for boys and girls? Is it the reindeer?" She pulled out her phone and checked the time. "Let us all meet at a cafe. I think we should discuss these preparations amongst ourselves with PSLs, was it?" Ted Grant turns suddenly. Old instincts fire up as a little person walks by him in a big coat. Ted pulls at his hood and it reverses into a Wildcat mask. Then he throws himself at the small figure arching into the air briefly as he attempts a take down in what seems like an incredible bit of overkill. He hollers, "look out! The midget has a gun! Get down!" Ollie gulps a moment when Ted subtly threatens him "Hah, come at me and you'll find an arrow twisted, screwed, and shoved where the sun don't shine. I've sparred with you before old man. I wouldn't mind doing it again." he grins at him competetively. "Though, I do enjoy the fun. I like you too, old cat." He looks to Dinah then, concerned for her as he moves towards her, picking her up lightly to set her down on a bench. "There you go pretty bird...." she can't hide stuff like that from him...he knows her far too well. Though when Ted shouts, Ollie looks to where he's diving...severely hoping that Ted's instinct is right and he's not just tackling a midget. Funny as that would be. The little midget is going towars a child which is doing the wailing, whining routine over with it's overburdened parents. The squawlinng pipes up and over as Ted goes to tae down the midget. The midget's.. Hat falls fof, revealing a small little man with.. Poitned ears? And a green leaf-like attire. And one giant magnum. It's an Elf.. With a gun. The gun is kicked away as Ted struggles with him, an the elf pulls out a knife. Sersi pauses, looking to Constantine, "I do not claim to be, only having seen what I have then. I would note that it is quite normal for such things to be done and I do not judge it, particularly things from long ago." The elf is now engaged in close quarters combat with Ted, even as the kid he was trying to kill is screaming at hsi parents to get him presents an how dare htey take him to something stupid like this and PRESENTS. Ciara's ears perk up when she hears the words PSL. "Yes please! I haven't had one in like an hour." She looks to Asia as she explains what Christmas is and seems confused. "Interesting. I must try this Christmas thing out." She pushes up from the bench. "So, PSLs?!" Angelica, the redhead who apparently got to solo embarrass herself not five minutes ago with her flute, sits down on a bench. It ends up being next to Dinah, but she'd never intrude on the lady's conversation. Fight. She's actually not completely sure which it is, since there's a lot of threats involved. But a bench is a bench, and she's still got a smile on her face. So she leans over near Dinah and whispers a question to the lady, concern in her eyes even with the rush of success still present. 'are you okay? I can call 9-1-1' She clearly doesn't know. Like, anything. Tony comments, "Yes, Santa is way too busy to be an Avenger. He's busy making toys for good boys and girls all the time. And when he's not working, he's serving the Fey Queen of the Winter Court.." He coughs. "I mean, he's feeding his raindeer and making sure his elves have a good benefits package and 401K." Tony looks over at the women when they talk about leaving the park and getting some PSLs. Tony grins. "Yeah, I haven't had one since this morning. My wife is on a health kick right now, so I sneak them when I leave for work." Yes he does work. When he wants to. He looks at Asia. "I'm gonna go get a coffee with my friends. I can call your part time nanny if you want to stay and listen to the music." Constantine grins a touch at Sersi as she confirms his suspicions. He then turns as he hears the commotion over the big guy fighting the little guy. He quirks a brow then and hmms as he reaches in his pocket for something. He utters to Sersi a query as he pulls out what looks like a dicebag, but seems to have a powder of some sort rather than dice,"So...redcap is it? Or one of them Vanaheiny whatev elves?" Asia looks at Adelah and smiles. "The bad children make them for him. See if you are a bad child your a turned into a little elf and you have to make toys for year and years until you learn to behave, then you get brought back as if nothing ever happened but you know...you know all those years of learning to be good and making toys you don't ever want to do that again." the toddler says with her vast imagination. She listens to Uncle Tony and shakes her head. "Nuh huh he gotta defend the North Pole with his noble elves who protect the Fey Queen while they look for the lost Unicorns who the Troll King stole, but he's in North Korea and Santa as a truce with the North Koreans to never go there." she frowns. "I can't go?" when she realizes he's got to go. Adelah winces at Tony and extends her expression to loft a brow at Asia. "Right, coffee. I think we are in need of some at the moment. A nice, hot beverage where we do not get enlisted into being elf children who make toys for being bad." Did she get that right? She doesn't know. "I believe we should take our leave now if we intend to get the best seats in the house for the cafe." She stands up out of her seat. "Shall we? While we're at it, we should probably call the authorities. I believe it's a bit prickly here right now..." Odd thing. Angelica, whispering to Dinah, does notice the fight. Hard not to. But she being a flutist doesn't, y'know, leap up or anything. She glances around and sees nobody diving to help, then sees the knife. And she just holds out her left hand a little. Why? no reason. But the knife suddenly gets REALLY HOT. Like, glowing. Karen Starr slips out of the limo, releasing it for the evening from service. A glance around, and she starts to walk towards the groups assembled. Sersi gives a cheerful wave over to Karen, "Hello!" She offers as she talks over wtih Constantine, as Wildcat brawls over with a Elf with a Knife that has the knife burning, searing his hand as the elf howls. "Ungrateful wretch! COAL FOR YOU ALL!" Dinah sees Ted tackling a ... midget? Really? And kitted out? Really? But then the gun. Then the knife. This is trouble. Time to wade in. She leaps up from her seat to join the fray. Well, she intends to. Her leap turns out to be barely standing up. Joining the fray consists of knees buckling and falling to the ground. At least she can crawl there, right? Because that's what she's trying, pig-headed as she is. "Ted, leave me some!" The knife turns into a puddle of molten metal on the ground in seconds. There's no real visible reason for it to have done so, but Canary might notice the coincidence of Angelica's hand raising and lowering, and the odd focus in her eyes. Then she's getting up and slipping away, as she's left on the bench alone. Done enough tonight, gotta make scarce. Is that Karen Starr? Wow...am I in over my head in this crowd. Tony replies. "Asia, I'm going to be out late and Sabrielle will make me sleep on the cough if I kept you out all night. Now don't argue with your Uncle." He stands up and hands Asia off to a young, pretty french woman. "Get her out of here. Now." He briefly thought about getting involved, but changes his mind. He'd just be in the way at this point. Besides, if someone got YouTube video of him beating up a midget tongues would never stop wagging. "Lead the way." He says to Ciara and Adelah. Constantine will stroll over to the elf with his pouch, pulling out a pinch as he sharply snaps at Ted,"Shut your eyes, now..." Then slings an unhealthily large pinch of the powder at the elf. It's a blend of powdered iron, cayenne, salt, and eggshell. Guaranteed irritant to anything living to one degree or another. It isn't a polite blend, no sir. Ted Grant tries a lock on the elf (?) wrist to disarm him. "Drop it you murderous little ... biting? You're biting? What kind 'a psycho are you? Let it go ... you don't want to kick me there ... all right, no more mister nice guy ... Rrrrrrrrr!!!" As the elf drops the knife he grabs for his neck, trying to haul him up and give him a shake like a British nanny! It's a three way brawl between Dinah, the Elf, and Ted. The elf kicks Ted in his packing peanuts, only to be shoved back and hurled at Canary as Ted's fist grabs him adn lifts him up, his hand boiled coal black from the burning knife as Dinah crawls to him. The Fae from Otherworld shrieks over at Constantine as he jabs it. "WE'LL SHOVE SO MUCH COAL UP YOUR.." What follows is hard to tell who is swearing mor e- the elf, Ted, or Constantine quite likely as things burn and the elf tries to bite. Sersi considers, "I do not beliee this sort of thing has change much over the millenia!" She looks rather upbeat. "I am glad that many of the older traditions are maintained." Probably best not to ask. Not to ask. Ollie looks at Dinah "ooohhhh no you don't!" and he pulls her back to sit her down. "You, my lady, are still recovering. Teds got this, don't worry about it!" he smiles a bit. "If push comes to shove, I'll take care of it. I don't want you crawling to go punch a midget." he says in a caring way to Dinah. Old Canary would have shrugged off Ollie and dove in. That's the Canary who can stand, however, without leaning on someone. This one glowers a moment--sparks of the original still there--but then sits back and... Ted will be SO disappointed! ...listens to reason. "You're right," she mutters at a volume that can maybe be heard by something hovering a sixteenth of a millimetre in front of her mouth. Rather than head into the fray, Karen waves to Sersi at the greeting. However being just rich type, she dials 911 to report the altercation to the police. She's in good shape and all, but no Tony Stark with a power suit, just a computer programmer from a green tech company. Ted Grant lets out a yelp as teeth bite into his hand. Fortunately he wraps his hands and they gear the brunt of the Fae's choppers. "Goddamit! Biting didn't save Brainwave and it ain't saving you! No wait, Psycho Pirate was the one who bit me!" He draws his fist back and swings aiming for the elf's chin. The 'button'. Biting the former heavyweight champion of the World indeed. Sadly getting kicked in the packing peanuts he is familiar with. That's why you wear a cup! He wishes he remembered that tonight. Ow. Sersi gives a wave to Karen Starr "Hello." She offers, watching Constantine get into a stab off with the elf then, even as the elf exchanged blows wtih Ted as blood flew about. The fist from Ted hits the elf in the chin. Again. Again. Teeth fall out and the elf slumps, jaunty hat falling off. The hat lands atop Dinah's head. Going past the group in the distance are severaly strangely moving humanoids in trenchcoats wrapped around them. The trenchcoats look rather lumpy and are muttering. Also each is carrying a large knapsack over it's shoulder that is.. Wriggling. Constantine grumbles as the elf continues lashing out at people and says,"A'ight you undersized stocking stuffing Krampa-loompa shit brick...You asked for it!" He then goes to dump out the ENTIRE pouch in its face! Ted had an elf slumped unconscious in his hand. NOw it explodes. There is bits of exploded elf bits all over Ted and Constantine now. Dinah stands up effortlessly, breezing past Constantine and Ted, eyes fixed on the child that was the target of the now-exploded elf. "Hey, little boy," she says in a syrupy sweet voice. One that doesn't sound like razor blade gargling was in use. "Wanna come with me for a huge Christmas surprise?" Her blood red eyes glow slightly. "Come on! It'll be fun!" she adds, reaching for the child. Ollie -definately- finds something suspicious, running over to Dinah when she strangely, despite her injuries, breezes past constantine and Ted no difficulty whatsoever. He grabs Dinah's wrist before she can grab the kid. "Dinah!" he looks to the kid "Run off little guy. Parents are looking for you." he says to shoo off the child. "What are you doing?" The child that Dinah is going up to iwth candy blades is whining, "I wanna pony! If you dun give me one I'm gonna hate you forever!" A sore ankled parent that was just kicked in one hasn't noticed the madcap blonde intent on mayhem. Ted Grant wipes elf off his chin and mask and goes over to the bench. He sits down heavily and produces a flask. He takes a hit from it. A big one. He notes Angelica and says somewhat sadly, "This is without a doubt the low point of my entire career. If your sainted mother were here, she would pee herself laughing. I'll see Fate at our next reunion and he'll be saying, "Hello Wildcat, I have bested the Demons Three and made Etrigan stop making crank phone calls. What is new with you?" I'll say, "I retired after Constantine exploded a goddam elf in my hands. Someone shut that kid up!!!" Constantine offers Ted a two fingered salute at his commentary, then proceeds with cleansing himself. Surely one of the places around here has a free bathroom for him to use. The group of suspiciously dressed trenchcoat things hurl off the trenchcoats, revealing smaller elves on stilts that are up on one another's shoulders. "GET THEM!" Running out iwth knives, blades, and bullets as they swarm towards the children. The music onstage continues on. Central Park and the Salvation Army have seen far, far weirder than Santa demanding scalps and souls. Dinah does something she's never done before. She takes a swing at Ollie. Just enough to make him defend and let her go in the process. She then continues toward the kid, eyes glowing red, "I've got a pony waiting for you boy. It's over there behind the tree. Come one! It's a magic one that can fly!" She grabs the kid's hand and starts tugging the kid away from his parents. "Let's go now." Ollie takes the punch from Canary straight up and point blank, the sound ungodly but all it does is make Ollie stumble a moment, two fingers to his chin in pure shock. But he comes to a stignant realization: That's not Dinah. and suddenly he's sprinting, then he attempts to tackle Dinah to the ground without harming the kid. "Dinah! Let the boy go now!" Constantine dives under some seats as the bullets fly. He hasn't caught sight of the red eyed Dinah yet to do anything about that, being a mite distracted with trying not to get perferoted in one fashion or another. The mage starts doing a mental inventory of his possibilities for this situation, eyes flitting about at his surroundings since he destroyed the one elf with what he had immediately available. There are elves running about. The elves are taking out small tommyguns now as they race along. Some are on stilts. At least one is on a unicycle merrily firing a micro machine gun. Unsullied children scatter while complaining about presents and their unloving parents. The kid looking at Dinah goes, "Really? GIVE ME THE PONY!" This is really supposed to be one of those friendly holidays. Karen gets a bit wide eyed at the ambush attack. She dives for cover, jumping into the bushes, "Run." She screams at the others. Fortunately, a few seconds later there is a sudden rush of white, red, and blue as one of those Kyptonians arrives in the useful form of Power Girl, settling between the elven attackers and the civilians, first focusing on blocking the flying bullets, catching or simply body blocking them. Bullets fly off, bouncing off Power Girl. They sting just a little bit - which is surprising. There seems to be something innately magical about them - whether the weapons or the bullets. So they at least register when they hit! But she blocks the barrage. The Salvation Army continues performing, not missing a beat. Ted Grant hands his flask to Angelica as he leaps up and charges the elves, draw their attention, draw their fire away from the kids. He gives his trademark growl as he plows into a bunch of the elves. "Lord Krampus will have to put up with your soul instead, then," Dinah snarls at Ollie as he intervenes and frees the kid. Her eyes blaze a stronger red; her muscles tense and strengthen; Ollie's face is now in the path of an old-Dinah-before-the-injury punch. The ones that really hurt. "Come with me you petulant brat!" she growls at the child. You can't say she isn't focused. strangely enough, Ollie's better when he's on top. Wink. But he does manage to move out of the way of that punch. "Alright you munchkin. Give me back my Dinah!" and it looks like he's trying to pin her arms down with his body weight and technical submission techniques, attempting to put her in a delicate armlock. "Oh Krampus, I remember him. Parents told me he was a nightmare. Piss off and leave my wife alone." The fire blasts go out, one of the young children yelping, then trying to kick Ted in the shins. "I WANT MY PONY!" The elves are at elast tackled and scattered, punches, knives, foul language, the occasional curse and threat (okay most of the cussing is from the kids mind..) Constantine will do a pushup and glance over the cover in his path as he gets an idea. A spell of his own devising comes to mind, and he pulls out a deck of cards. It's notably fewer than 52, given the rattling in the worn case before he pops out a few. Uttering a phrase in enochian as he moves a hand in a fluorish over them, they spring to life with flame before he eyes the short beings maneuvering on stilts. Discarding the case, pun intended, he'll take aim to chuck burning cards at their stilts! The ones that hit, the flames will lick like napalm to ignite. Power Girl winces at the stinging, then inhales a good breath. A bit of an open pucker and she starts to blow out a white jet of frosty air, the temp probably not doing much to winter elves, but the force intended to blow them over. Unfortunately, the timing versus Constantine's flame attack is unlikely to be the picture of trained team work. "There is no Dinah. There is only ..." Dinah screams in frustration as she's pinned by Ollie, a situation the REAL Dinah could have evaded with ease. Whatever has her doesn't have her reflexes or training. Straining and struggling she tries to break free, the same obscenities the other elves have pouring from them coming from her mouth. "YOU WILL ALL PERISH IN FLAMES!" Ted Grant slaps a knife from a tiny hand, kicks another elf into the air and takes a moment to yell, "Hey Pee Gee! Good ta see ya! Been a while!" Ted beats out some flames starting on his sleeve. Elves get blown down. Even as the exchange of fire and ice from the flame of magic and the blast of breath sends them scrambling. "CURSE YOU!" One of the elves goes to throw a knife at Constantine, and another goes to leap up at Power Girl with knives in his eyes - in the literal sense, two small blades are glowing out of them. That's a new one. The elf that Ted has kicked flies up and over into the air, vanishing like Team Rocket! Constantine saucer eyes after a moment of smirking at Power Girl's one up of his attack when he sees the knife coming his way! Old reflexes kick in and he snatches the blade out of the air with reflexes better suited to Kurt Russel from Big Trouble! He'll promptly return the favor not with the blade, but with his last burning card. The elf that is running at John does a quick dive as the card goes to the side, going to reach out iwth his long knife. It glows, turning over into a scythe. "Merry Christmas! And you'll be dead by New Year!" Constantine does not approve of munchkins coming at him with sharp objects. Scrapper reflexes are in full tilt, and the threat is responded to with a tackle over at the elf before he employ the bigger weapon. He holds onto the knife that he caught, meaning to bury it in the elf if he can at all. Ollie blinks a moment. Dinah. Wearing hats? HERESY! and he reaches down and takes off her hat. "Since when did you wear hats?" Dagger eyes, that is not normal, well not when it is literal. A muscular leg rises and PG does a Rockettea? style high kick at the twerp of evil. It is high, it is far, it is good! GOOOAAAALLL! There as an elf. Until Peeg kicked it. Now the elf is achieving escape velocity. Orbital reentry is a b*tch.. Constantine stabs. Hard. Fast. The Wilhelm Scream echoes. John goes up unstabbed. The elf goes down. Very stabbed. The hat seems reluctant to come off Dinah's head. Dinah seems reluctant to allow it to come off as well, so that's a complicating factor. Still, this Dinah doesn't have the other Dinah's mad skillz; the hat comes off after a bit of a tussle that bears with it the unfortunate juxtaposition of Ollie's unmentionables with her knee. "I WILL PERSONALLY EAT YOUR LIVE...." Whatever it is she's going to eat is lost to the world as the hat comes off and she collapses on the ground. "O...ollie?" she croaks. "Why are y... We're in public, Ollie. Not the right time." Constantine rises victorious from the elf that thought it was gonna cut him. Never threaten Johnboy. It doesn't end well. He then notes the posture of the white clad kryptonian, and follows the logical trajectory to note what just transpired with an appreciative whistle."I think it's good..." Ollie smiles to Dinah warmly. "That's more like it." he lets her go and picks her up to cradle her in his arms. "Sorry, long story. Elves, Krampus, you got possessed. DOn't worry though, Robin Hood saved the day." he winks at her. There is fire, the occaisonal screams, music from the seemingly nonplussed holiday concert, and many brattish children still screaming at parents and demaning presents. Finally. Finally, after all this time, Angelica's had time to change. Which is when a new person comes onto the scene, a flaming person in the sky. Who looks down at the situation, putting her hands on her hips, and says, "It's over? Honestly..." Fashionably late, Firestar has joined the event. And seems to be more a distraction than actually a helper. And as Firestar flies on in, she would see more elves. They seemed to be.. Marching. Yes, marching. Along with a group of nutcrackers that had been festooned over with balistas that were moving at a fast trot towards the kids from down one of the pathways. "I swear, Ollie, if you're messing with my head I will murder you the slow way." Beat. "Old age. It's the worst way to go." She chuckles weakly. Then starts to cough uncontrollably. Each cough carves a divot out of the ground. Even on the nearby sidewalk. "Ollie! It ... it ..." Her eyes fill. "It's coming back!" Constantine morosely inquires,"When the bloody hell did Santa's workers get unionized? This strike is bollocks." There's a KRUMPH as the ground next to Constantine shakes from an explosion. The elves have brought out a candy cane mortar. Firestar sighs. It's almost weaponized, but she doesn't wait. Kids in trouble equals heroes in action, and she sees other heroes so this is clearly the side to be on. No question of who the good guys are right now. Even though this was supposed to be a thanksgiving event. Now it's about to be a turkey shoot. "I hope nobody minds if I step in?" Then she's off to try and help. And the flaming lady in the sky goes to put a wall of flame down between kids and attackers. "Please stop, you know I can't let you hurt them!" Yep. Trying to reason with the marching elves and nutcrackers. "Come on, let's try something other than murder and death for once? I've got way too much fire to walk through here, you can see that." Really is, she's laying down an impressive wall of flame from her hands. Ollie looks at Dinah and starts to chuckle a moment. Though then she starts to cough and aparently little versions of the canary cry. "Dinah, dinah what is it?" he kneels down right next to her. "It's okay, it's okay, deep breaths, deep breaths." Fire fire, burning bright! Glowing up into the night! Several of the elves scatter at the bright thing. Then one goes to load up a catapault over with some sort of glowing, eldritch concoction of snow which was launched over towards the floating Firestar! Constantine grumps as he thumps the butt of his cigarette. Now there's construct reinforcements. He knows a thing or three about golemancy. Such constructs possess the weaknesses of the material they are crafted from. This makes it simple for him as a skilled pyromancer. Seeing The object coming in at the newly arrived Firestar though cues him in on delaying that course of action to instead see what he can do about the ballistas and such. The blonde mage will march at the collumn of animated nonsense, elf blade in hand, and cut his palm with an utterance enochian. The blood that issues forth is transmuted promptly to flame as he winces, mildly annoyed at having to do this again so soon as he directs a conical spray of holy fire at the nutcrackers and their christmas artillery! The heroes are splitting up - some are evacuating the injured and children, others are protecting the salvation army concert, and others are quickly moving to engage the field artillery that the elves are bringing for support. The fire tossed by Constantine is effective, even as cratered pockmarks go over Central Park. In fairness it's still less damaging and chaotic than last week's giant mutnat polar bear outbreak, so there is that. Easily avoiding the catapulted snow, Firestar is not letting the elves get to the children. "Call it a day? Please?" She's really hoping not to fry anyone today. Elves are people too. "I mean, you can keep trying, but nobody's taking anyone tonight. I got a lot more fire where that came from." Bravado, our name is New York's emissions standards. Place is like a smorgasborg for her input levels. As Firestar does the glowstick routine, several of the elves go to launch a rather brute'ish contraption up at her. It's tinfoil. THey're trying to wrap her up and get ehr to be an easy bake oven! Dinah sees the elves aiming to launch something at Firestar. "Look out!" she calls out. Or, rather, that's what she tries to do. It doesn't work. Instead her tortured throat and lungs turn into a coughing fit. A coughing fit that peppers the area with the elves with sonic energy rather comparable to a hail of bullets. Big ones. Tinfoil tears. Dirt kicks up all over the place. One of the elves gets it straight in the face. A vertical portal opens up depositing the armored mage onto a floating sigil which is over the scene which is unfolding below. "I should not have ate that brownie." Grim says before scanning the situation trying to figure out what exactly he should do. He presses the button his comm and is silent while he is gathering himself. Elves are charging in, some with holiday themed artillery. As Grim teleports on in he sees a catapault that is being loaded up with.. Yes, that is definitely fruitcake. Being fired by a candy cane armed ballista that is trying to snipe. Folding her arms in close, Firestar goes through the hole in the tinfoil. She gives Dinah a quick salute, then is moving again. She's a bit of an aerial minx, that one. Wait, what was that? "You ate a Brownie? Is that why they're upset with us?" Then the artillery is being set on fire. If it wants it or not. The girl with the flaming hands is a GOOD shot, and apparently when she wants something to burn...it burns. Constantine is starting to get annoyed with the numbers being invested in this effort. They are trying entirely too hard tonight, and he's carrying on with the blast of fire from his palm. He'd salute Firestar for helping with the job of torching constructs and artillery, but he doubts she wants a taste of his brand of flamage. The artillery is flaming. So is Firestar. Definitely flaming. Any shots hitting her would be absorbed and directed. And DInah is getting to shiv an elf.. That's going to be an awesome scalp for any theoretical trophy wall of past victims that may or may not exist. The numbers are thinning - or at the very least the number of whining children is going down thanks toe vacuation. "It was with comsic kind.. I may have angered the fabric of the universe eating its brownies." wait was he talking to a flying fireball. Definitely should not have ate it, he puts his hand at his side; the sigils appear in his palms charging up his dark lavender energy before he can identify where it needs to go.. is there a portal or something where these realm invaders are incursioning from, he was looking around before deciding his target. Firestar, in her infinite wisdom, has yet to find out what's safe to shoot yet. So she finishes with the artillery and stops blasting things. "What's actually going on?!" she yells, trying to figure out where to go. What to do. If there's any odd energy flows in the area. The invaders are coming from Otherworld. At the very least, one of the numerous small realms that populated the dimension that branched all throughout reality. As Grim peers through nonexistence, he sees a three headed goat-within it walking on it's hind hooves that makes a very rude gesture at him as it does so. THere is a mobileengagement along one of the orchestra pits in Central Park, where the Salvation Army is playing a Christmas fundraiser. Small pockets of midget elves armed with knives, guns, fruitcake artillery launching mortar rounds, candy cane ballistas, and realy bad breath are doing a running engagement with a mismatched group of heroes that are trying to figure out what the hell is going on, where the seemingly never ending army of evil elf agitators is coming from, and whether Santa permits union shops. Whelp. Gonna be a long night. Firestar cracks her knuckles, and gets to the burning. Because that's her only trick. Fly around and shoot at things. Good thing that seems to be useful in this sitch. I mean, I'm totally heroic and stuff. Look, setting elves on fire. "Duck!" Yep. That was to the elves. She's trying NOT to actually shoot them if there's any other choice. But if it's a choice between them and the kids...some elves are gonna be going home tanned, is all she's saying. Dinah straddles the bench and watches for sneaky ninja elves, sniping at them from afar with nasty coughs before they hurt anybody. She starts a mental rundown of head shots to body shots. HOpefully Dinah will be taking booze shots after this. But Firestar is thinning out the artillery (by setting it on fire), Constantine is setting the ones that are not on fire on fire, and Grim is able to locate the dimensional ley line which is feeding the elves on into existence from thier home realm. IT's the type of thing which can be sealed or at least disrupted to have them backlash The power of the beam had reached it zenith while he was looking through what could only be explained as a portal to a terrible dimension with a three-headed goat giving him the business end of an insult. "I do not understand that which I have just witnessed." Grim says before spotting the convergence point of the energy and he blasts it with the charged up burst of eldritch energy he has had on hold for the last few minutes. Meanwhile, as near as can be managed to reach the festivities, Hellboy arrives via a typically unmarked SHIELD van. He gets out, lights a stogie, and checks his gear. "Right. Holiday season." he says to himself, gruffly, "Of course the little buggerin' faeries are gonna wanna start a turf war. Last I heard, we were up to fruitcake artillery. Let's hope it isn't like the Candarian Fae Incursion of '77..little shits fortified with gingerbread." he groans a bit, "I /hate/ gingerbread." and starts making his way, very matter of fact, to the front lines. A seven foot demon is NOT gonna look out of place here at all. Nosireebob. No one wanted to rememberthe losses taken when the nutcracker brigade charged from the trenches in lockstep, giant scythes and pitchforks set in a bayonet charge through Vimy Ridge. And given that Central Park was a hodgepodge of children screaming, superheroes setting things on fire, elves runing around with miniature tommyguns exchanging pot shots as their artillery burned and fruitcake shrapnel blasted off in random directions, he probably wouldn't evoke too much horror. Grim is able to lock down /how/ the redcap beasties were getting in. It would be tricky but now that the ley line was located it could be sealed, disrupted, or have it's link with this plane of existence obliterated. And with that, Firestar realizes that she's actually just background. Hellboy is here, a mage is doing the heavy lifting, and Power Girl is on the job. Seriously. Power. Girl. Black Canary even. She grins, actually happy with that, and just goes to work doing what she can. Because it's a team, after all. But as she passes over Canary, chasing some elves whose pants appear to be on fire, she calls down, "Big fan by the way! Keep up the good work!" And then Grim goes to close the breach. Eldritch energy blasting through it, reversing the streams. As Otherworld's expunged contents are blasted back into it's depths, the elves SHRIEK. "WE'LL GET YOU NEEEXXXTT.." Bodies flare and flash and were yanked back over into it. Magical marauders being blasted and blitzed back in. Then out came the frosting. EVERYWHERE. Great goblets and giblets of cake bake batter splutching everwhere, coating everything. "Thanks!" Dinah calls up, confused a little, her voice ragged. Then the frosting strikes. She's knocked off her bench and covered in what she HOPES is not what her brain calls forth unwillingly as its source. And then flinches from. GROSS! "Urble blaobble!" she curses, the words mercifully muffled by the tide of the sickly sweet frosting. The wave finally subsides and Dinah weakly gets to her knees. "I feel like a tryout for a Japanese video," she mutters to herself, a bit too loudly because of the frosting in her ears.